Hunter makes No. 9!

Shea Dixon

05/10/2009

Justin Hunter took in Baton Rouge for the first time just three weeks ago. Back in Virginia, it did not take long for the three-star prospect to realize that LSU was the place he wanted to be at the next level. Sunday evening, he made the call.

Keeping the dominoes
rolling in 2010, Justin Hunter (6-4, 180, 4.49) of Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean
Lakes dialed up LSU head coach Les Miles Sunday evening to add number nine to
the board.

“I just had been thinking
about committing since I left town,” he said. “The trip is what sold it for me.”

Meeting the coaches face
to face, Hunter said, was all that he needed to see from the LSU side to know
that the decision was the right one.

“The environment that LSU
has because of the coaching staff is amazing,” he said. “They are true
contenders because of those guys, and I want to be a part of something like
that.”

Recruited to the Tigers by
wide receivers coach DJ McCarthy, Hunter said that the coming years should see
their relationship flourish.

“Coach Mac is another big
reason that I committed, because he is a really cool guy,” he said. “We got
along really well, and I just kept thinking about what it would be like to
develop under him.

“[McCarthy] said that I
can be a really good receiver, and possibly make an impact early,” he said. “The
staff sees me going down the field like Terrance Tolliver will be doing for
them this season, so I liked that.”

After the nation’s No.
58-ranked wide receiver prospect returned to Virginia Beach from his trek to
the Tiger campus, Hunter said that he would have to talk the decision to commit
over with his mother.

How did Ms. Hunter take to
the Mother’s Day news of her son going out-of-state for college?

“She is going to miss me,
that’s for sure,” he said with a laugh. “I think it will all be okay though,
because coach Miles told her that he would take care of me.

“He said that the academic
center will have me on point, so I won’t have much time to get into anything
else,” he continued.”

Another bonus for Hunter,
one of the best high school track and field jumpers in the entire country with
a personal best of 6-10 in the high jump, was the Tiger track team.

“Coach Shaver was a big
impact on me when I came for my visit to LSU, and he really opened me up to the
fact that LSU is a school that has a winning tradition in track and field,” he
said. “The program impressed me, so I would definitely say it was an added
bonus.”

Yet, while he has been
high on the program for much of his recruitment, Hunter said that this morning
was the first time he had woken up and known the answer to the ultimate
question.

“When I had gotten back
from Baton Rouge my brother told me to just sit back and think about it,” he
said. “Some time went by and I let things settle, but this morning I woke up
and could not stop thinking about it. I decided it was time, so I called coach
Miles up and he accepted the commitment on the spot.

“There was no hesitation
in his voice,” he laughed. “He told me he was super happy, and he said that he
wanted me to be in touch this week. I just let him know that my recruitment is
said and done. No more visits for me, and I am just ready to be a Tiger.”

Hunter tallied 34 catches
for 536 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.